The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOS), also known as the Tennessee Department of Safety or DOS, is a law enforcement agency serving the U.S. state of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. The TDOS is made up of three main divisions: the

Tennessee Highway Patrol The Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) is the State Patrol organization for the U.S. state of Tennessee, responsible for enforcing all federal and state laws relating to traffic on the state's federal and state highways. The agency was created to pr ...

(THP), the Tennessee Driver License Services division, and the Tennessee Office of Homeland Security.

History

The TDOS was established in 1939 by the Tennessee General Assembly to exercise authority over the THP. Over the decades, the agency has evolved to meet new challenges, such as drug trafficking, the issuance of drivers' licenses, and terrorism. Therefore, the DOS currently comprises three divisions: the THP, the Driver License Services division, and the state Office of Homeland Security (OHS). The current commissioner of the Department of Safety is Jeff Long, who has been serving since January 2019 after being appointed by Governor Bill Lee. He is assisted by deputy and assistant commissioners, including the director of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Col. Dereck Stewart.

Functions

The DOS manages the THP, OHS, and the Driver License Services division. The THP is the highway patrol agency for Tennessee, which has jurisdiction anywhere in the state. The Office of Homeland Security was created in April 2003 by an executive order by then-Governor

Phil Bredesen Philip Norman Bredesen Jr. (born November 21, 1943) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 48th governor of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected in 2002 with 50.6% of the vote and ree ...

in the aftermath of

September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

. The Driver License Services division issues various kinds of identification cards, including hardship licenses for minors, graduated drivers licenses, regular driver licenses, commercial driver licenses, and state identification cards. In addition to the above functions, the DOS has issued handgun permits through the THP since October 1996, assuming the role previously taken by local sheriffs' offices.

References

{{authority control

Safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...